


Perimeters

by august_the_real



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 07:14:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3166082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/august_the_real/pseuds/august_the_real
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's several stretches of hallways and stairs and one room that lights up automatically as John passes before he says to her, "It coulda happened to anyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perimeters

Title: Perimeters  
Author: august (mrsrosiebojangles@gmail.com)  


Post Episode to 'Irresistible' – Contains Spoilers.

*

Lucius had touched her hair, her cheek and then he whispered something in her ear. She can't remember what, now.

 

It's been two days since they returned Lucius to his homeland.

Elizabeth lived in Russia after Yeltsin and never became an alcoholic. Elizabeth had clocked six peace-keeping missions without picking up as much as a caffeine addiction. Elizabeth spent the hours after taking the serum alone in her quarters in sweats and fits and wishing, just wishing, it would just end.

She knows she's not alone in her humiliation at surviving the Wraith only to be brainwashed by a half-wit and his handful of leaves. Yet she can't quite bring herself to look Teyla in the eye or to talk to Rodney about more than the next Star Gate harvest. People emerge from their quarters slowly, shyly and she's no different so she's less than thrilled when she decides to go for a run through the city and John, the only man who didn't fawn over Lucius like a Beatles freak says, "I'll join you." 

Elizabeth lived in Russia after Yeltsin and has six peace-keeping missions under her belt; she's a diplomat before she's anything else so she just smiles, says, "I'd like that, John."

 

They're running, hard and fast, and it's not exactly what she had in mind; John is military and she struggles to keep up with him. They're running within the city, towards the perimeter she and he established in those first, early days. They run quickly, without conversation, and every so often she looks to her left and sees parts of the city sleeping in darkness.

It's several stretches of hallways and stairs and one room that lights up automatically as John passes before he says to her, "It coulda happened to anyone." But then he shoots her a quick glance that might say, "but it shouldn't have been you" and the look is gone before she has a chance to really decipher its meaning.

When they stop at the perimeter she's gasping for air. He looks pained but maybe he's just not as fit as he used to be and he says, again, "It coulda happened to anyone, Elizabeth." 

She wants to say, it did happen to everyone, except that's not true, exactly, and even if it were John wasn't exposed to the pheromone and he can't know what it was like. She smiles, diplomatically of course, says, "Thank you, John, I know."

They walk back slowly towards the city centre, along the perimeter. She notices he suddenly has a gun slung across his shoulder and she thinks, briefly, how different her life is now. It must register as something like sadness on her face because he says, "Lucius was arrested back on his planet."

She says, "We should have arrested him here."

"We can't turn Atlantis into a prison and we couldn't have sent him back to Earth. There's no court in our world that could even start to deal with alien rapists. We did the right thing."

She doesn't say anything; as they walk she lets her fingers trail the wall. The last time they walked like this was after Phoebus and Thalan left their bodies and that ended up with her forehead against the wall and his hand tracing her back like a pebble across a pond. 

"Not yet," she had said to him then, thinking of Simon and then thinking of John and his warm hands and hot breath. "Not yet, John, I need some time to think."

She knew then that one day she would leave Simon. She had thought, back then, that it would be for John.

"We should head back," John says after maybe ten minutes of their slow walking, maybe more. The look on his face is careful. Elizabeth still remembers John's fingers on her back and wall, cold against her forehead.


End file.
